This invention relates generally to devices and methods for drawing milk from a human breast.
Many mothers rely on pumps to extract their breast milk. The more such pumps are automated and simulate the natural sucking rhythms of an infant, the easier it can be for a mother to relax and allow her milk to “let down” and flow. Pumps in common use include manually operated mechanical pumps. Which require the user to repeatedly manipulate a lever or pedal to produce suction. and electrical pumps, which run on either DC battery or AC line voltage.
With portable pumps, especially ones with electric vacuum sources, it is preferred that the milk only enters the easily washed storage bottle connected to the breast hood. Particularly, milk should be kept from inaccessible vacuum passages and pumping hardware which is not easily cleaned. Many electric pumps, for instance, come with instructions that caution against allowing the pump to tip over or lie on its side with milk in the bottle, as the milk may flow through the vacuum port and into the pumping chamber.